Wayne residents oppose Gov's Common Core order

By Debra Winters

Staff Writer |

Wayne Today

WAYNE - Gov. Christie's move this week to issue an executive order related to the Partnership for Assessment and Readiness for College and Careers tests (PARCC) that's based on the state's Common Core Standards resulted in much chagrin amongst those who oppose it.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JULIA sass rubin

Members of Save Our Schools, who oppose Gov. Christie's recent Executive Order surrounding the Common Core initiative, rally outside a Hackensack restaurant where the governor was attending a fundraiser.

In what was expected to be a decision to lessen the burden of the overall system currently in place turned out to be a relief for teachers, leaving many to continue wondering about the educational future of New Jersey's students. The executive order did away with very popular bipartisan legislation (S2154/A3081) that would have created an independent, expert task force to examine Common Core and hold public hearings and issue recommendations on several of its issues including PARCC and student privacy.

Christie issued two announcements, the first, and an executive order to create a new task force to be appointed entirely by him to study the efficiency of overall state testing especially PARCC and the Common Core standards they are derived from.

The second announcement calls for loosening pressure surrounding teacher evaluations and the PARCC tests for the next two years. The current 30 percent weight on teachers will be reduced to 10 percent next year and 20 percent in 2016.

Where does that leave anxiety-riddled students continuously pressured to understand the Common Core curriculum is a question being asked by many, including district school trustees.

"The Board of Education is pleased that a study commission will be formed to analyze the effectiveness and impact of all standardized tests. However, we were hoping that the PARCC testing would be delayed and a task force would have been created to examine the Common Core standards," said board President Laura Stinziano.

Since the launch of Common Core, several types of groups have popped up around New Jersey, and many of those educational-based groups that already existed expanded to include Common Core.

Save Our Schools NJ, a 21,000 member strong organization that includes many Wayne residents, started up in 2010 initially by a small group of parents in an effort to pass a school budget, and it quickly flourished as it was realized that ongoing organization across the state was needed to ensure that children's education would not be compromised politically or ideologically. And since the implementation of Common Core, they have been actively advocating on behalf of students.

Members of Save Our Schools NJ participated in a rally held outside the location of a fundraiser event Christie was attending on July 17 to alert him how unhappy they were with his decision. "Your executive order is not good enough, Gov. Christie. We want our democracy back," was the overall sentiment from parents, students, and community members.

"The Executive Order also does not delay the punitive aspects of the experimental new PARCC test, which the legislation would have frozen for at least two years. Save Our Schools NJ does not support backroom deals like the one that arrived at this Executive Order. We want the entire legislature to vote on S2154/A3081 so that the voters can hold our elected officials and the Governor accountable," said Julia Sass Rubin, one of the founders of Save Our Schools.

Citizens United for Responsible Education New Jersey (CURE/NJ) is a volunteer-based coalition of education activists and educators promoting local control of education in New Jersey and to put an end to Common Core. CURE/NJ assists parents to understand the new policies forced on them by the Department of Education at the federal level.

"Now with the way things turned out you have to start from the beginning again if you want to do anything in the Senate. But you know what, we took one step back but now we'll take two steps forward," said Judy Rostello, a Wayne resident and vocal activist belonging to CURE/NJ.

Wayne resident and member of CURE/NJ, Delores McGuire extended her displeasure.

"I'm not happy at all with the governor's executive order. This is not the way to do things. It's helping the teachers but what about the kids?" asked McGuire.

Rosalie Sabatino, of Wayne, who is also active in CURE/NJ, said she was sickened to hear of the governor's decision.

"He addressed nothing. It was just a political move and he's off to Iowa. These are our children. He's drumming down the curriculum. Kids are not learning and they should not be taught to the test. Anything that anyone can do to get the word out to parents should. Psychologists are saying this is not a good way to teach children. There was no pilot program for Common Core. They just threw it in there," Sabatino said.

Wayne residents oppose Gov's Common Core order

Members of Save Our Schools, who oppose Gov. Christie's recent Executive Order surrounding the Common Core initiative, rally outside a Hackensack restaurant where the governor was attending a fundraiser.

By Debra Winters

Staff Writer |

Wayne Today

WAYNE - Gov. Christie's move this week to issue an executive order related to the Partnership for Assessment and Readiness for College and Careers tests (PARCC) that's based on the state's Common Core Standards resulted in much chagrin amongst those who oppose it.

In what was expected to be a decision to lessen the burden of the overall system currently in place turned out to be a relief for teachers, leaving many to continue wondering about the educational future of New Jersey's students. The executive order did away with very popular bipartisan legislation (S2154/A3081) that would have created an independent, expert task force to examine Common Core and hold public hearings and issue recommendations on several of its issues including PARCC and student privacy.

Christie issued two announcements, the first, and an executive order to create a new task force to be appointed entirely by him to study the efficiency of overall state testing especially PARCC and the Common Core standards they are derived from.

The second announcement calls for loosening pressure surrounding teacher evaluations and the PARCC tests for the next two years. The current 30 percent weight on teachers will be reduced to 10 percent next year and 20 percent in 2016.

Where does that leave anxiety-riddled students continuously pressured to understand the Common Core curriculum is a question being asked by many, including district school trustees.

"The Board of Education is pleased that a study commission will be formed to analyze the effectiveness and impact of all standardized tests. However, we were hoping that the PARCC testing would be delayed and a task force would have been created to examine the Common Core standards," said board President Laura Stinziano.

Since the launch of Common Core, several types of groups have popped up around New Jersey, and many of those educational-based groups that already existed expanded to include Common Core.

Save Our Schools NJ, a 21,000 member strong organization that includes many Wayne residents, started up in 2010 initially by a small group of parents in an effort to pass a school budget, and it quickly flourished as it was realized that ongoing organization across the state was needed to ensure that children's education would not be compromised politically or ideologically. And since the implementation of Common Core, they have been actively advocating on behalf of students.

Members of Save Our Schools NJ participated in a rally held outside the location of a fundraiser event Christie was attending on July 17 to alert him how unhappy they were with his decision. "Your executive order is not good enough, Gov. Christie. We want our democracy back," was the overall sentiment from parents, students, and community members.

"The Executive Order also does not delay the punitive aspects of the experimental new PARCC test, which the legislation would have frozen for at least two years. Save Our Schools NJ does not support backroom deals like the one that arrived at this Executive Order. We want the entire legislature to vote on S2154/A3081 so that the voters can hold our elected officials and the Governor accountable," said Julia Sass Rubin, one of the founders of Save Our Schools.

Citizens United for Responsible Education New Jersey (CURE/NJ) is a volunteer-based coalition of education activists and educators promoting local control of education in New Jersey and to put an end to Common Core. CURE/NJ assists parents to understand the new policies forced on them by the Department of Education at the federal level.

"Now with the way things turned out you have to start from the beginning again if you want to do anything in the Senate. But you know what, we took one step back but now we'll take two steps forward," said Judy Rostello, a Wayne resident and vocal activist belonging to CURE/NJ.

Wayne resident and member of CURE/NJ, Delores McGuire extended her displeasure.

"I'm not happy at all with the governor's executive order. This is not the way to do things. It's helping the teachers but what about the kids?" asked McGuire.

Rosalie Sabatino, of Wayne, who is also active in CURE/NJ, said she was sickened to hear of the governor's decision.

"He addressed nothing. It was just a political move and he's off to Iowa. These are our children. He's drumming down the curriculum. Kids are not learning and they should not be taught to the test. Anything that anyone can do to get the word out to parents should. Psychologists are saying this is not a good way to teach children. There was no pilot program for Common Core. They just threw it in there," Sabatino said.